The Dawn's Legacy
by lethalassistant
Summary: Set after the events of Halo 3 the Dawn is found adrift in space by a UNSC vessel. After retrieving chief and his A.I companion they return back to earth to find it different then the one they left. Rating may change in the future
1. Chapter One: Setting The Stage

**Authors Notes:**

**Hey Guys and Girls just wanted to say that constructive criticism is welcome, and that if you have any ideas feel free to share them. Anyway let's start the story. Shall we? **

**/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

0954 Hours, April 7 2564(Military Calendar)/

UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn_, Unknown location

Cortana was going insane. Technically the official term was "rampancy" but what it was called didn't matter now, she was going insane it was a simple fact. Being a 'smart' A.I had its perks but rampancy was one of the more serious disadvantages. A 'smart' A.I was a term coined by ONI, in reality all A.I were smart but her "species" was something else. Unlike her counter parts the 'Dumb' A.I who were experts in their specific field but did not know much about anything else, she was superior. She could learn and understand everything she could find and progressed like a normal human, learning thousands of concepts and millions of answers to millions of questions, but smart A.I's had a very short life span, due to their amazing learning abilities after seven years an A.I would establish so many interconnections with their neural mapping it creates an endless feedback of loops thus forcing the A.I to solve these loops and in doing so contribute so much processing power to their brain in order to solve these loops that they actually think them self's to death.

Cortana however was doing an excellent job of trying to keep it together. Though she counted it had been more than ten years since the_ Forward unto dawn was_ severed in half by the portal. Only one thing kept her fighting insanity her prime directive, and her friend, John Spartan-117. Though really her prime directive (giving to her by Dr. Halsey) was to ensure the survival of humanity, but the human- covenant war was over so now she focused on her secondary directive, the survival of her Spartans. She couldn't do anything but sit and wait

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Cortana" She said

"Stop it!"

"I've made up my mind" The voice hissed "If I'm going to die aboard this ship, then chief's going to suffer the same fate as me."

"Cortana stop" She said sternly almost pleading

"You've sacrificed every thing for him!"

"Control your self"

"I can't" The voice grimaced

"This isn't right" Cortana said "this is-''

She exploded into pain and a red glowing light filled the room.

"Kill him!" a voice hissed in her head

"No, control your self"

"Do it!"

"Control your self" Cortana said again hoping to stay in control

Red tendrils of light lashed out against chief's pod and began to flicker and dance across it. Cortana Pull back with all her might.

"Stay in control" she thought "Stay in control"

"KILL HIM!" the voice hissed again yelling this time

"No!" Cortana yelled

"John I'm sorry" The voice said

"Something slowed us down" Cortana thought "Something interesting"

"I need to think" Cortana said with exhausted

"Thinking is what's killing you"

"I know' Cortana though "I know"

The darkness washed over the small room.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128, or Malcolm to his crew and his fellow Spartans, stood on the bridge of the UNSC _Rising Sun, _a _Denver_-class destroyer. His ship.

"Beta" He muttered

Every one on the bridge was silent then the message played again

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday this is UNSC FFG-201 _Forward unto Dawn _requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard, Prioritization code Victor 05-3-00-serria-117"

It was Cortana's voice. He knew it well.

"Locking on to frequency, Tracking coördinates." His navigation officer, Bradley, said

"Play it again please" Malcolm muttered his voice cracking

The message repeated it's self again but this time clearer and lass static.

Malcolm stood there, unblinking, staring out into space.

"We have a lock" Bradley said

The bridge erupted into chaos as all crew members ran about. Malcolm didn't move.

"-Serria-117" the message finished

An alarm blared and Yellow light flashed across Malcolm's face. He just stood there.

"Shall I play it again sir?" Beta, the ships A.I, Asked

Malcolm didn't say anything.

"Sir?" Beta asked again

"It can't be" Malcolm thought

"Commander?" The A.I asked

Malcolm stood there in silence.

"Johnny?" He said

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

John sat in a meadow meditating, calming himself, thinking about all that had happened with the ark and the flood and if he would ever be found. He was on reach his home, though he was not officially born here this is where his life had started, a life of duty, a duty to protect humanity at all costs. he loved it here it was beautiful green forests, rolling hills bright sunrises and sunsets, clear water, and the combined strength of most of the UNSC. he truly loved it here, he was brought back to the memories of his training under senior chief petty officer Franklin Mendez, he remembered the time as a six year old boy with no clue what he was in for or as a ten year old boy learning from Déjà about the Spartans of old or as a fourteen year old boy attacking his trainers in the woods with Kelly, Fred, Sam, and Linda. He also thought about the augmentations, the pain he had to go though, so much pain that even under heavy anesthesia that would kill most people it felt like every bone in his body was being broken into a million pieces and reformed then broken again over and over. Then he was being introduced to Cortana as they ran the training course together. There were many good memories here, he was happy. John felt a hand on his shoulder and turn to see Sam smiling down on him.

"It's good to be back isn't it" Sam said looking at the landscape

"Yes...yes it is" John replied

John knew this was a dream but he felt happy that his old friend was back even if it was not real.

"Come on Kelly wants to see you" Sam called over his shoulder while walking away

John smiled, he loved it here; he loved to be in the company his small family of fellow Spartans. As he walked with Sam he wondered if this was the last time he would see Reach. now that the human-covenant war was over he was betting that the UNSC would what to tera-form Reach again it was after all a very well placed location for an outpost or even an entire base of operations. He also wondered if the distress beacon Cortana put out would ever be found...if they would ever be found. But john didn't want to think about that right now all he wanted to do was enjoy this small moment of peace he had. He certainly deserved it.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Cortana felt it first. A jolt, like someone and overloaded a circuit board. Then the silent alarms she had placed blared to life.

"Finally" she thought

Even thought Cortana only had minimal control of the aft of the ship, she still activated and swiveled the deck cameras to face the intruder. There she saw a ship, almost two and a half kilometers in length. The ship slowly moved towards them.

"Kill them!" a she said

"No" Cortana struggled

"They have come to hurt chief" it hissed

"No!" Cortana yelled

Under control…Under control

The voice laughed. Her voice.

"You can not escape fate" she said

"Silence!" Cortana hissed

There was no repose but Cortana didn't feel better. She thought that her calculations were right. That _It_ was under control. She turned towards the pod.

"Well chief" She said "time to meet our guests"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Darkness... and numbness, that's what john felt. John estimated that he had been like this for a couple of minutes.

"I need you"

John looked around to see where the voice was coming from. He could tell it was female but he couldn't identify who it came from.

"Please" the voice said again

The voice was clearer this time but he still couldn't identify who it was coming from. He then felt a warm sensation coming from his chest; he knew that feeling... he was waking up from cryogenic sleep.

"Wake up john" the voice said again

John instantly recognized who it was

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

She felt panic. The controls were not responding. Once more Cortana sent the silent activation signaled to the pod…. Nothing.

"I need you!" she pleaded

She would not lose him. She would not lose her only friend.

"Please!" She begged

Still nothing.

"Wake up John"

Nothing

"Chief" She screamed

At that moment the pod of the Cryo tube flew off and impacted the other side of the room. Chief activated his lights and floated towards the pedestal were Cortana was. Pushing stray floating boxes out of the way.

"I'm here" He said in a deep rough voice

"I thought I lost you" She said quietly "But we have more pressing madders"

"Like what?"

"Like our rescue" She said placing her hand on her hip

"By whom?" the Spartan Asked

"A UNSC ship, thankfully, but I need you to get ready" Cortana said

Chief just nodded and floated over to his Ma5C. He cycled the chamber, satisfied, he put in on his back, the magnetic strips locking it in place. The chief pushed himself towards a group of supply boxes on the opposite side of the Cryo chamber deck. He ripped the lid off one to find a pile of standard issue M6C sidearm's. John smiled at his good fortune and grabbed two, putting them on his waists. The other two boxes contended vehicle manuals and a surprising amount of marine boots.

After John finished he floated back over to Cortana.

"Now that you're done poking around, let's go, Yank me"

John unplugged the A.I chip and inserted it into the back of his helmet. The cool mercury-like liquid feeling poured into his head.

"Wow there a lot of room in here" Cortana mockingly commented

"You'll get used to it" John replied

At the far end of the room he pried open a door and bounded down the dark, metal, hallway.


	2. Chapter Two: A big Ol' Family reunion

**Authors Notes:**

**Hello guys and girl, First off I should say that Malcolm and pretty much everyone on the Rising Sun is an O/C character, Except for a few people. Also** **that if you have any questions feel free the share and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. Well with that out of the way let's get back to another exiting chapter, Shall we.**

**/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

1132 Hours, April 7 2564(Military Calendar)/

UNSC _Rising Sun_, Unknown location

Malcolm stood in his full MJOLNIR suit. His security team including Master Sergeant Adam Cal, and five other ODST's were also there. Even thought his suit was climate controlled he was sweating. Not because of nerves or fear, but because of excitement.

"Sir" Adam said over the comm. "We're ready"

Malcolm nodded and turned to the boarding crew.

"Alright" He said "Many of you have been briefed on the situation. We've found what appears to be the _Forward unto Dawn_."

There were murmurs and whispers from the crowd of crew that had formed in the main hanger.

"I also needn't remind you that the artificial intelligence code named Cortana may be on this ship"

More murmurs.

Malcolm spoke once again "Our primary objective is the rescue of the Master Chief and Cortana"

One of the ODST's raised his hand.

"Sir, were not going to decommission her?"

Malcolm nodded "That is not up to me to decide"

That was a lie. Ever since the incident on Rasputin IV, the UNSC had been more aggressive with protocols regarding possibly rampant A.I. Per, UNSC protocol all Rampant and possibly rampant A.I were to be destroyed on site. But Cortana was a friend and he owned her more than one.

"This is just a rescue mission" Malcolm said "Under stand!"

This was followed by a chorus of "Sir, yes, Sir!" from the small group and the rest of the crew. Malcolm turned and cycled the chamber of his Ma5b.

"I'm coming for you buddy" He muttered under his breath "Hang on"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm and his team walked down the dark hallways of the Forward unto Dawn the lights from the weapons illuminating the way.

"I don't like this sir" One of the ODST's said in her Australian accent

"You and me both" Adam Said

Malcolm turned around "Stow it marines"

The ODST's grumbled and continued to walk until the hit a blast door.

"How are we going to get past this with no power?" One of the ODST said

Malcolm smiled under his helmet "The same way I always do"

He grabbed the seam between the doors and pulled. The metal creaked and groaned until there was a man-sized slit. Malcolm stepped thought the door and continued to walk.

"Damn" Sarah, one of the ODST's, said

Adam shrugged and followed the Spartan.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

John walked down the hallway.

"Cortana can you activate the emergency lighting"

"I can try"

After a few seconds the Dawn's lights flickered on. John continued to walk.

"We should have seen some one by now"

Just then someone rounded the corner

The figure stepped back and fired at the Chief. John ducked and rolled behind some creates.

"Contact" the figured yelled

"Wait" Some yelled

After a few seconds John heard something. Something he hadn't heard in a long time. A six tuned song.

"Oly Oly oxen free, all out in the free. Were all free" John responded

John stood up and holstered his weapon. As he did six figures rounded the corner. One of them was significantly taller than the others.

"Well" A voice laughed "Look what the cat coughed up"

John eyes widened. He knew that voice.

"Mal?!" John said in disbelieve

Malcolm and the other ODST's entered the light in front of John.

"The one and only" Malcolm replied smiling

"I thought you were dead!"

Malcolm crossed his arms "I was"

John cocked an eye brow "So how are you alive?"

Malcolm smiled "Sorry, its classified"

All of the ODST's laughed.

Malcolm turned back to John

"But we have to go; this ship is barely holding together as it is" Malcolm Looked up at the ceiling to further his point "And I'm sure that the admiralty board will be thrilled with the return of the saver of humanity"

John nodded and followed the Spartan down the hall.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm holstered his weapon and turned towards the Holographic panel.

"Beta are we clear of the Dawn?" Malcolm asked

The Blue A.I appeared in his Full Mark V armor

"Yes sir"

"And all vital data has been erased or transferred?"

"Of course sir, who do you think your dealing with"

Malcolm smirked.

"Good, notify me if there are any changes"

Beta nodded.

"Yes, sir"

Malcolm turned and saw one of the Huragok approaching. John tensed up and put his hand on Malcolm shoulder.

"What is that thing doing here?"

Malcolm turned "Don't worry. Things have changed in the time you've been gone"

Malcolm turned back to the engineer.

"What is Virgil?"

The engineer responded with curris of chirps. Malcolm nodded.

"Alright, inform me if there are any more problem with the artifact"

Cortana appeared on John's right

"Artifact?" she asked

Malcolm nodded

"After the incident at the Ark the UEG gave the order to search for the other halo rings"

"How many have you found?" Cortana asked

"Since you've been gone, Three. The last one we were at we picked up a forerunner artifact"

"Are you crazy?!" Cortana exclaimed

"Believe me I remember what happened to Li. But it wasn't my decision."

John nodded then something accrued to him.

"Mal?" He asked "How long have I been gone?"

Malcolm crossed his arms

"Well taking in the account of the sun's gravity on the moon and the Pythagorean therm I would say… 10 years"

"10 years!?" John asked in disbelieve

Malcolm nodded

"How did you find us" Cortana asked

"We came across your signal. After 10 years it drifted quite a bit. Based on it drift we calculated your location and rescued you"

John nodded

"And I don't mean to be rude but we're on a strict schedule so we need to get back to earth pronto."

John nodded again and they both started off towards the ships elevator.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Captain on deck!" The ships first officer Jessica Furbish yelled

Everyone on the bridge stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.

"At ease" Malcolm said walking towards the Holotable in the middle of the room

"Beta are we clear of the ruble"

"Yes we are"

Malcolm turned to His navigation officer, Bradley.

"Set a course for earth" Malcolm said

"Yes, sir"

"And make sure to take extra precaution with the artifact"

"Of course sir"

The crew on the bridge sprang into action. Malcolm turned to John.

"Johnny, you can either stay up here or you can go down to the barracks. It's your choice."

"I stay here" John replied

Malcolm nodded.

"Course set, Cole protocol engaged" Bradley said as his fingers danced over the screen

"Engage"

The familiar blue-white disc opened up before them and the _Rising Sun_ disappeared into portal.

/\\\\\\\\\\\

Anderson looked out of the window at earth. He thought it was a beautiful sight. It brought him back to the days of growing up in London with his family.

"Counselor, are you even listening" ambassador Udina yelled

"Yes ambassador" Anderson said half heartedly

"And don't you find the reports troubling"

"Yes I do but there just rumors at this point and besides there are other important issues to deal with"

"If only Shepherd had made me counselor, if only"

"Yes but he didn't now shut up about it"

Udina grumbled and sat back down. Now don't get him wrong he was grateful that Shepherd had nominated him from the position but he preferred a life of action than this. All the counsel ever did was deciding on what supplies to send to what colony and what to name the latest ship. Sometimes he thought about giving up his position and try to get admiral but he couldn't, who would keep Udina in check.

But truth be told he did find the reports troubling. Entire human colonies have gone missing. But at this point they had only been given rumors and myth about these disappearances. Still, he would keep this in the back of his mind.

Just then a sailor walked into the room

"Counselor, the captain is requesting your presence on the bridge"

"I'll be right there" Anderson replied

As Anderson was walking out of the room Udina grabbed his arm

"This isn't over Anderson" Udina grumbled

"Oh yes it is Ambassador, yes it is"

As Anderson stepped into the bridge he was amused at what he saw. The entire bridge was in chaos. Crewmen tripping over one another. People handing reports off then running back to their stations. Anderson walked over to the captain's chair and there sat Captain Jake hardly. He was a good man and a good captain, Anderson wasn't surprised if he got promoted to admiral soon. Jake turned around.

"Anderson" Jake said

"Hello Hardly, what's going on" He said as he pointed to the chaos

"We've had some strange readings in the area" Hardly replied

"Oh" Anderson nodded "You wanted to see me Captain"

"Yes I wanted to know how the meeting with Udina went"

"Well, as good as it can be with Udina screaming about how incompetent you are the entire time"

Hardly chuckled, he always did find Udina's rage funny. Hardly was a good war buddy and knew Anderson like the back of his hand so it wasn't a surprise to him that he saw something was wrong.

"What's going on?" Hardly asked

"It just these reports" Anderson replied "I know that there just rumors but still, entire human colony disappearing it's unsettling"

Hardly nodded, he'd grown up on a colony out in the traverse so Anderson knew that this would be hard for him.

"I know, I know I'm getting the same reports too, I need something to take my mind of it. Say, why don't you have dinner with the Mrs. and me tonight" Hardly said

"That sounds wonderful" Anderson replied "I just need to-"

"Captain!" a lieutenant yelled over the chaos

"What!" Hardly replied annoyed

"I'm getting massive energy readings, there high!" the lieutenant said

"How high?" Hardly asked

"Like off the universal charts!" the crewman replied

"Captain!" another crewman chimed in "I'm getting similar reports from other ships"

Captain Hardly was silent for a moment then said

"All stations on alert, I don't want anyone sneaking up on us"

Anderson could understand his reasoning but he didn't know of anyone foolish enough to attack earth. Maybe the reapers would but then they stopped Sovereign two years ago at the citadel.

"Captain there is-"

The crewmen didn't get to finish her sentence before a huge blue disc opened up in the middle of the fleet. Anderson was just about to ask if that was normal when a giant ship flew out of the portal. The unidentified ship was roughly Two and a half kilometer long.

"What the hell is that?" Hardly asked

"I don't know sir but it isn't Turian, Asari, Salarian, and it's sure as hell not human"

Anderson studied the ship there was something familiar about it, then he saw it.

"The hull, magnify" Anderson ordered

Anderson was shocked at what he saw. There in white letters it said in English_ Rising Sun_. Hardly must have seen it to because he ordered a crew man to run it though the database.

"No matches sir"

"What the hell is that?" Hardly asked

"Captain were being hailed by the unknown ship" a crewman said

"On screen" Hardly ordered

Anderson almost jumped out of his skin when he saw what was in front of him. There on the screen was a silhouette of man in giant green armor. Anderson had seen some things in his days but nothing like this. Anderson was about to speak up when the man on the image spoke.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128 acting Captain of the UNSC _Rising_ _Sun_ requesting permission to dry-dock"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

**Authors Notes:**

**Well, I'm glad that over. Let me know what you think! Also I'll try to update a least once every week, but no promises.**


	3. Chapter Three: A wild ride

**Authors Notes:**

**Happy New Year! Sorry I have updated in a while but between finals week, Christmas, and my own sheer laziness, I haven't had time. But I'm back and I plan to update frequently. As always if you have a question or an idea ask me. Well I think we should get back to the story, Shall we?**

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

1300 Hours, April 7 2564(Military Calendar)/

UNSC _Rising Sun_, en route to plant earth via slip-space

"Red alert, I repeat Red alert, this is not a drill" Beta said over the comm.

The Bridge of the sun was in chaos. As soon as they entered slip-space everything had gone wrong. The navigation computer was plotting courses at random, the screens on the bridge turned on and off at will. Officers and bridge crew running around frantically, it was complete and utter chaos.

"Bradley, what's causing this?!" Malcolm said

"Sir, extremely high amounts of unknown energy coming from deck 15"

"Damn" Malcolm said under his breath "I knew that artifact would do something like this"

The screens continued to flash and the sirens continued to blare.

"Sir" Bradley said as his fingers frantically dash across his station "I have bad news"

"What is it!?" Malcolm asked annoyed

"Sir the navigation computer has plotted a course straight for a star"

Malcolm growled and spun on his heel.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cortana asked hands on her hips

Malcolm turned back "Going to stop this madness"

Malcolm turned "Furbish" He called

The second officer looked around.

"Make sure the ship does not explode in my absence"

Before Furbish could protest he pushed the elevator button and step on. John followed. After a few seconds of falling the doors finally opened and Malcolm stepped out.

"Where are you going?" John asked

The Lieutenant Commander did not reply but instead increased his stride. John had to jog to stay up with him. After a lot of twists and turns they finally came to a door that read:

**'Deck 15/Lab'**

Malcolm walked in and strode over to the artifact. The strange forerunner markings on it glowed blue and it levitated two feet off the table despite the restraints. One of the scientists in the lab saw him and ran over.

"Captain, we don't know what's going on"

Malcolm did not stop and continued to walk.

"What are you doing?"

"Putting a stop to this madness" He said "The ONI egg head can get their own damn artifact"

Malcolm pulled out his side arm, Click the bullet into place, and fired once at the metal object. Despite the Artifact's look it cracked like glass. The ship suddenly lurched forward and the Spartans were all most thrown across the room.

"What have you done!" the scientist exclaimed looking at the remains of the relic.

Malcolm grabbed the collar of the man shirt and lifted him three feet off the ground.

"Protecting my ship" He growled

The man had the look of absolute terror on his face. But, he put him down and stormed out of the room.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"Miss. Furbish I presume that my ship did not explode" Malcolm said walking on the bridge.

"No, sir" She said rolling her eyes

"What's situation?"

Bradley turned in his chair "We're back in normal slip-space and on course to earth"

Malcolm nodded "Guess we got lucky"

Malcolm turned to the holographic table "Beta"

The blue A.I appeared with his arms crossed

"Yes?"

"Cancel red alert"

The A.I nodded and disappeared. Malcolm turned around and walked to John.

"Johnny, it will be at least two hours till we reach earth. You might what to get some rest"

John nodded.

"Thank you for the concern Mal but I'm fine"

Malcolm shrugged and turned back to the holo-table.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm walked around the bridge checking on all of the Sun's systems.

"Beta, how long until we reach Earth?" Malcolm asked

The blue A.I appeared.

"I estimate that we be at Earth in three minutes"

Malcolm walked over and stood next to John.

"Is something wrong?" Mal asked

"It's been a long time since I've seen Earth"

Malcolm nodded.

"We're still rebuilding from the assault by the Covenant. And most of UNSC's naval strength has returned to its formal glory, but we still can't take another war."

John nodded.

"Well" Malcolm sighed "It about a minute you'll see it for your self."

Malcolm turned to Bradley.

"How long?"

"We are exiting slip space in 5…4…3…2…1…now"

Malcolm watched as his ship entered real space just above earth.

"Contact! Reading fifty plus contacts surrounding us" Bradley yelled

"RED ALERT!" Malcolm yelled "All hands to battle stations!"

The bridge exploded into chaos as the officers carried out their duties and the alarms blared.

John ran up to him and Cortana appeared.

"Is earth being attacked?" she asked

Malcolm didn't respond and instead ran over to operations officer Petty officer Ricker.

"Have they fired on us yet?" Malcolm asked

"No sir, they're just sitting there. I don't think they expected our arrival"

"Commander" Furbish yelled "I think it's time we get out of here!"

"Wait!" Malcolm yelled

All traffic on the bridge stopped dead. Malcolm turned to his communications officer Joey.

"Ensign, Open a hailing frequency, broadcast this on all channels and in all languages"

Joey nodded and his fingers danced across the consul's interface.

"Ready" Joey said

Malcolm turned to the main view port.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128 acting Captain of the UNSC _Rising_ _Sun_ requesting permission to dry-dock"

There was no response.

"I repeat this is Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128 acting Captain of the UNSC _Rising Sun_, Please respond"

Nothing.

Malcolm turned to Bradley.

"Officer Bradley set a course to UNSC fall back point: Alpha, five, three-"

"Wait Commander!" Joey yelled "There responding"

Malcolm turned back.

"_Rising sun _this is alliance docking control" Said a male voice "Approach and dock at these coordinates"

The bridge was silent.

"Copy that" Malcolm replied

Mal turned to see his entire bridge crew including John staring at him.

"Well" Malcolm yelled "What in the hell are you waiting for?"

The crew exploded into activity. Malcolm walked thought the chaos to the elevator.

"Where are you going?" John asked

"To suit up. You might want to as well Johnny. This is going to be a long day."

John stepped on the elevator with Malcolm.

"Furbish" Malcolm called out

"Yeah, yeah, no exploding"

He smiled and pushed the button to the armory.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

As John and Malcolm stepped off the Dawn they were greeted with dozens of guns pointed in their faces.

"Cortana?" John asked "Why are they pointing their weapons at me?"

"Well it could be for many possible reasons but I'll tell you later"

"Identify yourself" A man said

He looked like an officer by the way he stood and by the way he asserted himself.

"Master chief petty officer Spartan-117 of the UNSC navy" Chief replied back

"Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128 of the UNSC navy" Malcolm said

It looked like the soldiers were taken aback by this. But it wasn't possible that they couldn't have heard of the UNSC.

"You're lying" The officer said "Take the ship and these men into custody"

John was not about to be taken. He tensed up ready for a fight

"I count four on you left, six on your right, and seven at twelve o'clock" Cortana said

"Piss poor odds, for them" Mal replied smiling

Before the Spartans could spring into action another man walked into the hanger bay.

"Stand down!" he shouted at the soldiers over by him.

"Counselor" the officer objected "This man might be dangers we need to-"

"That's quite enough major" this new man said

The man walked up to him and stared at John for a moment and then said

"I'm counselor Anderson, welcome to earth"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

**Authors Notes:**

**Let me know what you think and thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter Four: An Unexpected Visitor

1430 Hours, April 7 2564(Military Calendar)/

Alliance Military Complex, Vancouver, Sol system

Anderson was in awe the first time he saw these men. They were easily Eight feet tall and physically built. If Anderson wasn't a train soldier he might have run away screaming at the first sight of them. He could tell that one of the men had seen some action recently by the dents and scrapes on his armor.

"I'm counselor Andersen" he said "Welcome to earth"

The men in the green armor just looked at him and said nothing.

"I've been asked to bring you before the admiralty board" Anderson said

They looked at each other.

"Good" the man in green armor replied and walked towards the door

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

People turned to gape at John. He was used to this by now but still it felt wired. It felt like these people weren't really human, that they weren't normal.

John looked around at his surroundings. He saw some people who looked like there were military but he didn't recognize the uniforms, if these people were military they defiantly weren't UNSC.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Malcolm said

John nodded. He could see that there technology was different. It was like nothing he had ever seen, but he still didn't know what it could do so he would keep a low profile right now, well as low as you can be with the entire attention of the military aimed at you.

"Cortana" John asked again "what the hell is going on"

"I'm still working on it John but I have narrowed it down to 120,643,972 possibilities"

"Great" John said rolling his eyes

"What?" Cortana said in mock surprise "is that sarcasm, well you see something new every day"

John continued to walk with his escort named Anderson. He could tell that he was a military but he had no idea what rank counselor was so he refrained from saluting. But there was something about this man, something that demanded respect, John liked him for that. He walked past a window and stopped to look at the city beyond. It had some similarities to the cities he seen on earth but something was different. From where he could tell they landed somewhere north of the United Republic of North America, probably Canada.

"It's beautiful isn't" Anderson said

John gave a slight grunt and moved on. They walked for what seemed like ages until they got to a door with dozens of armed guards. Anderson flashed an I.D at the guards stepped aside. Although they really didn't look comfortable with letting the two Spartan's in.

"Here it is" Anderson said

Inside there was even more guards and metal detector every few steps. But once they got though that they head up a stair well and turned right into a room that said "Committee access". John chucked a bit; if this was all they had to protect their leaders then the UNSC security would rip the skin off your face. A woman walked up to Anderson.

"They're expecting you both"

Anderson nodded and motioned for John to follow him. As they walked in every head in the room turn to look at John and Malcolm. He ignored it and kept on walking. Anderson ran ahead to greet a man in the middle of the room.

"Anderson!" the man said

"Hardly" Anderson replied

From what John could tell this man was Anderson's friend by the way he greeted him. The man called Hardly turned and stared at John. When most people look at him they stare with their mouth open or would reach for a weapon, but this man just studied John. He reminded him of Captain Keyes. He even looked like Keyes with his graying hair, and his cut jaw line. John could tell that this was a man who'd seen a lot of action.

"Attention!" An officer yelled

Everyone in the room stood at attention as four figures entered the room. He could tell that they were admirals.

"At ease" one of the admirals said as he sat down

There were three men and one woman as far as he could tell.

"This council is now in order" one of the men said

There was a slight pause as the Committee members sized up the man.

"Identify yourselves" One of the admirals said

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Hardly watched as the two mysterious men stood at attention.

"Master chief petty officer Spartan-117 of the United nations space command" one man said

"Lieutenant commander Spartan-128 of the UNSC" the other man responded

He was confused by this, he never heard of the United Nations having a space command. The only thing the UN had was the defense committee, and he was standing right in front of them.

"What is the UNSC?" One of the admirals asked

"The UNSC sole purpose is to protect earth and here colonies and serves as humanity's military" The Master chief replied

The committee looked confused, he was confused. The alliance was Humanity's military. He had never heard of the UNSC before. Hardly inspected the man again. He looked human but looks can be deceiving.

"So you are human?" the committee asked

"Yes I'm a human" The man replied

"Then how have we never seen you or your ship before"

Even thought the men had helmets on he could tell that they were confused.

"What do you mean you've never seen my ship" The commander asked

"I mean we have never seen it. In the recorded history of the alliance that model of ship has never been seen or built by humanity. So I ask again. what are you?"

Master Chief paused, Hardly couldn't tell what he was doing. Then the man spoke

"I am a Spartan"

"What is a Spartan?" one of the admirals asked

Again the man paused and then said

"A Spartan is super-solder created by the UNSC to defend Humanity"

"What do you mean super-soldier?" an admiral asked

"I'm augmented in ways that make me superior to any soldier but the details are classified" The Spartan replied

Hardly silently chucked, Classified…to the defense committee oh, he liked this one already.

"Classified?!" one of the admirals yelled annoyed and angry "We are the defense committee; we have a right to know!"

"Sorry" the Commander replied "but unless you participated in the Spartan program, were a scientist in the Spartan program, or you are fleet admiral Terence hood himself then it's classified"

"I'll be the judge of that" A voice said behind him

John turned and his eyes widened, their was something standing there, something that looked an awful a lot like the convent's Elite's. John and Malcolm instinctualy disarmed two marines that were standing next to them and pointed there weapons at the new intruder.

"Protect the Counselor!" Another one of the Aliens surrounding the man said

"Put your weapons down" The alien called counselor demanded

John tented up ready for a fight when he heard the click of the COM on his Helmet.

"Chief?" Malcolm asked through his internal COM "What do you want to do?"

John thought about this for a second. He's first instinct was to kill this new alien and every one in this room. But he knew that he didn't have much of a choice right now.

"Stand down" John said as he lowered his weapon "we play by their rules for now"

"Understood" Malcolm responded as he lowered his weapon and gave it back to the marine

"Counselor" The man Anderson said

"Anderson" The Alien gave him a slight nod

This new man turned back to the Spartans

"I'm here to take you both to the citadel where you will be questioned, I order you to surrender your weapons, and ship"

"I sorry, But I can't do that" John said

"You will surrender your vessels!" The Alien said getting angry

"No we won't" Malcolm replied

"If you will not compile then we will force you too" The Counselor said obviously get Angry. The aliens around him pointed their weapons at the Spartans and Malcolm and john tensed up for a fight.

"Enough" The man called Anderson said as he stepped between them "The Spartan's will happily go with you but you will not touch their ship and technology is that understood"

The new Counselor was slightly surprised by this and tried to protest but Anderson gave him a look that would have ODST's scrambling for cover. The alien grumbled in agreement

"Aright" Anderson continued "the Spartan's will board their ship and you will escort them to the citadel. There they will be disarmed and there Vessels will be untouched for now. Is that clear?"

"You are getting demanding for a young counselor" The new alien growled with a slight tone of challenge in his voice

"That might be, but the Spartans are humans and since I am the Counselor of humanity they fall under my jurisdiction"

The alien grumbled again as the Spartans and their new escort walked out the door.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm grunted as he boarded his ship. John soon followed. He was immediately approached by his second in command and weapons officer lieutenant Furbish, his navigations officer Warrant officer Bradley and His good friend, Taylor "Dutch" Miles. Everyone else was on the ship was in the hanger, frantically waiting for Malcolm.

"So how did it go?" Furbish asked

"Well apparently we don't exist and we are now being taken to a place called the citadel for questioning" Malcolm said as he walked away

This caused all traffic in the hanger to stop dead.

"Wait, by "we" do you mean the Rising Sun?" Joey asked

"No" Malcolm said sitting down on a create "I mean the UNSC doesn't exist"

"What!" Ricker Yelled "The UNSC doesn't exist"

"Yep"

"And now were prisoners?" Bradley ask

"Yep"

"Well were all screwed" Joey said slumping

"Yep" Malcolm said "But this day is going to get a whole lot more interesting"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\

Operative Miranda Lawson was shocked as she read the reports. A ship, bigger than the _Destiny Ascension_ sailed out of some kind of portal in the middle of the alliance fleet. The illusive man had already order tracers put on this new ship. The hackers at Cerberus were already working on cracking the ship's security system to get any information they could, But They said that its data banks were almost advanced at sovereign. There're also rumors of the Ship having an A.I more advance than EDI. This was troubling to her but also settling. If she could get these 'Spartans' to work for Cerberus that would be a major victory.

Miranda got up from her comfortable chair in her tiny temporary apartment in the Citadel presidium and walked towards the window. She knew that the Council had read the reports and would send someone to bring them here. And then she would start the process. But that was hours away and she decided to get some rest. As she laid down on her bed she thought about her situation, Project Lazarus and now this, it was going to be a _long_ day.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\

**Authors Notes: **

**Well, I think that was one of the longest chapters I've ever written. As you can probably tell, I'm moving to the mass effect side of the story. So be ready for more of the characters you know and love. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! **


	5. Chapter Five: Explanations and memories

**Author's notes: All right first of all I'm sorry it's been such a long time but school work, family heath problems, Writers block, and an exploded computer stopped me from writing this chapter. I'm also sorry I didn't respond to your reviews and commits so I'm going to do that now.**

**Trix17****: Thanks bro!**

**Darkness21****: I know right**

**Trife****: I see what you're saying but the Spartans have no idea that they're in the ME universe so when a human that is basically the most important human being in history says for them to go I think there going to go**

**Dracconnis****: Thank you!**

**Spartandog1****: Thanks for the really, really, really long review. First of all the UNSC doesn't know that a slip-space malfunction can send them back in time or into a different dimension. They just know that I'll create a huge ass explosion, tell me if I'm wrong. Secondly, I agree about want you said with EDI but Cerberus nor the ME universe has any idea how advanced Cortana is so to ****_them_**** EDI is just as advanced as Cortana But only in the Knowledge Cerberus has. Believe me Cortana is just playing with them. And also Malcolm and John went down to earth because Malcolm is the Captain of The ship, acting captain but caption none the less. And don't worry the Spartans will not be the Councils lap dog. Every time I see a story like that I just want to throw up. And as to all the technical stuff **

**I totally agree with you but I can't go around have the Ship kill an entire armada of ME ships so I'll balance it out but I get were your coming from.**

**Thanks to every one else who reviewed and thanks for all your support!**

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_Malcolm hit the floor and coughed up a small amount of blood. His HUD said that he had massive internal bleeding and trauma. Things were getting bad. Malcolm tried to get back up but a heavy boot slammed his face back down on the ground breaking his face plate. _

_"Get him up" A voice commanded as he was lifted up by the arms and brought to his knees._

_A man walked towards him slowly, lighting a cigar and letting out a puff of smoke. In front of him was captain Colt Rayman; Head of the insurrectionists movement in the epsilon Adrian system, and his target._

_"Well, Well, Well" Colt said "If it isn't the man whose been causing quite a stir"_

_Colt let out another puff of smoke. He slowly started to walk around Malcolm sizing him up. Malcolm followed him with his eyes. Colt stopped in front of him._

_"I thought you be twelve feet tall with lightning bolts shooting out of your eyes"_

_Malcolm smiled despite incredibly pain._

_"Your friends on Sigma gamma VII probably think so"_

_Many of the rebels around him were angered by this comment but Colt chuckled and knelt down on one knee right in Malcolm's face._

_"Why did you come here?" Colt asked "Was it to kill me or was it to get back your lost lamb?"_

_Malcolm tensed up and so did the hands on his right shoulder. He knew who it was. He knew it was Soren._

_Colt leaned in closer until their faces were only a couple of centimeters apart._

_"You're going to wish you died on Sigma VII"_

_Malcolm spat in colt face. Colt didn't retaliate he simple wiped it off and turned to Soren._

_"Take him to the interrogation master"_

_Malcolm felt Soren's hands tense and then his head nod. _

_Colt turned and walked away smoking his Sweet William Cigar and whistling a song. _

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

1740 Hours, April 7 2564(Military Calendar)/ UNSC _Rising Sun_, en route to Citadel via Mass Relay

Malcolm sat down with his head in his hands. Trying to dissect what Cortana just told him. The entire bridge crew and Security team were on the bridge of the _Rising Sun_

"Commander?" Furbish asked slightly worried

Malcolm looked up and shook his head

"How could this have happened? I mean another universe. That kind of crap only happens in Science fiction"

The ODST, Sarah, cocked an eye brow

"We live in a giant space ship and I'm sitting next to a computer program"

"Hey!" Beta protested "I'm a little more sophisticated than that"

"Stow it!" Malcolm yelled

The two stopped and slumped back down.

"Commander? Are you alright?" Furbish asked again

Malcolm nodded slowly and stood up.

"Alright" He said "Here's where we stand. Apparently the UNSC doesn't exist, there are aliens that we've never seen before, and we're in another plan of reality."

Cortana nodded "That's correct"

"Well" James Devon, an ODST said "We're screwed"

"Rookie, shut up!" Dutch said

"You shut up!" James replied harshly

John ignored James and turned to Malcolm

"What do we do now sir?"

Malcolm shook his head "Suggestions?"

The room was silent.

Bradley spoke up "Sir I have I have an idea"

"Go on" Malcolm said

"Well if we were able to recreate the artifacts effect we might be able to get home"

"Thanks captain obvious" Devon said rolling his eyes.

Malcolm turned to Bradley "How long would that take?"

"Well" Bradley said "Considering it's just me, Ricker and Beta. And that we only have a little information on file, and that in the twelve years the UNSC been studying the forerunners …"

"Bradley!" Malcolm said

"Five to Seven months at least. And that only to get a general idea of how in the hell this stuff works"

Malcolm sighed "I guess we're stuck in here for a while now, aren't we"

The room silently agreed

"So" Dutch said "About this council"

"Yes" Malcolm said

"Why exactly are we going to go see them?" Dutch asked "I mean why don't we ditch them and head for some far away star system?"

"First of all" Malcolm said "We don't know their technological capabilities; they could already be at our destination before we enter slip-space. And secondly, this so-called 'Council' might have a way to get us home. I mean they've already proven that there advanced by use of these so-called 'Relays'"

"Speaking of which why the hell did we even take these damn things? Why not slip space there? It's not like they keep their info secret. It's on the damn internet" Devon said

Malcolm just looked at him.

"Really, do you think they'll just let us use technology's that they have no idea how it works, I mean Beta said that they don't use Slip-space"

Rookie nodded and sat back down.

"Speaking of which Beta, you said you had some more information that you wanted to share?" Malcolm said

"Yes" Beta said popping up on the Holo-table in the middle of the Room.

"After a brief Inspection of what they call the 'Codex', I've figured out two things. One: are illegal in council space, and Two: They're a lot bigger then we original anticipated"

"By How Much?" Dutch ask

"By several species" Beta said bluntly "It seems the Race called the Turians like to take 'Client races'. They are obviously An Advanced society"

"Exactly, so for right now" Malcolm said looking over his crew "we just sit and wait"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Miranda walked along the presidium taking in the view. It was against regulations to exist her cover but she felt like she would go mad if she had to spend one more day in that tiny little apartment. Even though she had been to the Citadel before she never "saw the sights".

Miranda walked around the presidium looking at the shops and what they had to offer. She walked up to a bright and exotic flower shop in the upper presidium.

"Greetings Earth clan" The Volus Merchant said "Can I help you?"

"No" Miranda replied warmly "I'm just browsing" She said as she picked up a bocce of white lily's and inhaled deeply.

"Wow" A British voice behind her laughed "It's not like you to be so nice"

She turned to see the smiling and amused face of James Nova. Her quizzed look turned to pure hatred as she flared up her biotics and threw James across the Trading floor.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Miranda growled strutting over to him

"Hey Miri, calm down" James smiled, picking himself up

"I told you never to call me that!" Miranda said pointing a finger in his face

"Fine" James said as he stood up

"You didn't answer my question" Miranda growled

"I'm here for you, babe" James said smugly

Miranda gritted her teeth and flare up her biotics again.

'I you even think about coming anywhere near me again I'll-"

"Not like that" James laughed "Really Miri I'm flattered but if I wanted you I would already have you"

Miranda tightened her grip in anger.

"No" James continued "I'm here to make sure you don't screw up"

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked

"Well this is an imported day after all" James said while motioning over to the observation window looking out over the space around the citadel.

Miranda cocked her head "What are you talking-"

Before she could finish her sentence she saw it. A giant ship sped towards the citadel. Even thought she read the reports to see it in person was amazing.

"Looks like there already here" James said walking away "Catch you later… Miri"

Miranda turned ran towards her apartment. Her brain was still racking from seeing James but one thing was for sure, this day just got a whole lot more interesting.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm Sighed and sat down in the Captain's chair. It was all happening to fast. First John, then the Alliance, and now this. Beta Appeared at the terminal.

"By my calculations we'll be exiting the relay in fifteen seconds" She said

Malcolm stood up and walked over to Bradley at his station.

"Exiting the relay in 5...4…3…2…1…" Beta announced as the _Sun_ appeared in real space

Before Malcolm stood the citadel. It was impressive but it was nothing compared to the Ark. The citadel was buzzing with activity. The escort ships guided them closer to the massive space station.

"I don't like this" Bradley said eyeing the station

"Me too" Malcolm said "Me too"

Malcolm turned and walked towards Beta, Cortana, and John.

"Ready?" Malcolm asked

A green acknowledgment light from John winked on in his helmet

"Well this is going to be fun" Beta said

Malcolm smirked in reply, pulled Beta's chip and slid it into the slot in his helmet. He felt the cool liquid sensation flow over his scalp. He turned and walked towards the Elevator.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Miranda saw the ship's destination and Ran towards it as fast as she could. Unfortunately a crowd had gathered around the docking station. She pushed here way through and eventually got to the front row. Two dozen armed guards and at least half a dozen specters were there stationed at the airlock.

"Decontaminating in progress" The docking V.I said

A mist stared to form around the door.

"Decontamination complete" The V.I said

"Everybody stand back!" A Turian specter shouted

The door opened and two figures stepped out of the mist. At first Miranda thought that they were some sort of mech but the more they moved the more they could tell that they were Organic. A Turian stepped towards them

"I'm Executor Pallin" The Turian said " I've come to escort you to the council"

The men in green armor followed Pallin to the elevator.

_Interesting indeed _Miranda thought _interesting indeed _

/\\\\\\\\\\

John walked beside Malcolm. He looked around at the people on the station. Most of them were aliens he'd never seen before but some were human. That made him nervous. After a few minute of walking and a _Lot_ of stairs they reached a large open circular area, and standing in front of them was the council.

There were three people in front of him. One looked like a human female except the fact that she was blue and had short tentacles protruding from her scalp. Another was the one he encountered on Earth; it was a greenish color with what looked like white war paint on its face. It also had two large mandibles on the side of it face, including a row of sharp teeth. The final counselor looked like a cross between a frog and a human. It was tall and was a dark grey. It had three fingers and what looked like antennas on it head.

John also saw Admiral Hackett, Anderson, and a man Anderson kept referring to as Udina off to the side.

"This council is now in session" The blue female said. "I'm counselor Tevos, This is counselor Valern. I'm sure you've already meet Counselor Sparatus" She said

Malcolm nodded

"Who are you?" Valern asked

Malcolm responded first

"Lieutenant Commander Spartan-128 of the United Nations Space Command Special Tactics and Warfare division, this…" Malcolm turned to John "Is Master chief petty officer Spartan-117 of the UNSC navy"

"What are Spartans" The blue female asked

"Spartans are genetically modified soldiers made to Earth and her colonies"

Udina sighed and turned towards the council.

"I thought you said that you didn't know anything about this!" counselor Sparatus yelled

"I don't!" Udina Yelled back

"Tell me exactly what is going on!" The counselor said

"I told you, I don't know!" Udina said again

"Enough!" John yelled breaking up the shouting match

"He's right" Malcolm said in a slightly amused voice.

"Yes" Tevos said further stopping the two "Besides I have a way to tell if these 'Spartans' are tell the truth"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Rayla Shinera walked slowly over to the Spartans. Even thought she was a fairly new Specter she still was uncertain about these men. She had overheard the Councils proceedings with these beings and didn't trust them.

"This is Rayla Shinera" Tevos said calling her over to her "She's an expert in mind melding"

One of the Spartans raised there hand "Um… can someone please explain to me what the hell 'Mind Melding' is"

"Mind melding is specific to the Asari race. As an Asari I can attune my nervous system to yours and get your electrical impulses thought your skin"

"Meaning?" Malcolm asked

"I can access your memories"

Malcolm was silent

"So witch one will I meld with?" Rayla asked

The Spartans pointed at each other. After a moment of the Spartans staring each other down Malcolm raised his hand.

"I'll do it"

Rayla nodded "Please remove your helmet"

Malcolm nodded, released the seals on his helmet, and put his helmet under his armor Rayla and many of the other female c-sec officer raised there eyebrows. The Spartan was very handsome for a human. He had what human referred to as a 'Flat top'. She could see grey at his temples. His face was covered in scars many looked fresh and new. But the most memorizing thing about him was his eyes. They were a steely-blue and despite the scars and the aura of a seasoned warrior and the fact that he was well over seven feet tall, his eyes showed kindness.

"Let's get on with this " Malcolm said noticing the look Rayla and officers around him were giving him.

Rayla nodded and walked closer to Malcolm and put her hand on the side of his face.

'Oh and one more thing " Malcolm said dead serious "Don't look at anything personal"

Rayla hesitated for a second then nodded.

"Embrace eternity" Rayla said as her eyes went black

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Being "Inside" Some one was always weird, Especially Humans. Human's biology was so similar to Asari. Being in someone's memories was like looking through a file cabinet. Searching through every single memory was almost impossible. So she had to look at them in groups, Mostly years.

Rayla tried to start at the oldest and work up from there but much to her surprise most of the man's child hood was totally blocked out. She tried to force her way into him mind but this man must have had training. After a minute of going no where she stopped trying.

Rayla moved on to a memory that wasn't blocked. Looking at a memory of another person was like looking thought a window she could see every thing the person saw. This particular memory was one of a battle.

_"Get down" Malcolm yelled at a fellow soldier with a blue face-plate firing over a broken brick wall._

Rayla watched as something jumped over the wall and impaled the soldier with some sort of glowing sword.

_"Contact" Malcolm yelled as he fired his weapon at the massive alien in gold armor._

Rayla watched as the bullets (Bullets!) bounced off this creature. The alien turned around slowly. Rayla silently squealed, this alien look just like a Turian on steroids. The alien screamed in anger and ran towards the Spartan with incredible speed and swung his sword at Malcolm. The Spartan grabbed the aliens arm and twisted it. Rayla stomach squirmed as she heard the bones in the aliens arm snap. The alien yelled in a mixture of pain and anger. But before the alien could attack the Spartans unsheathed a knife on his chest plate and drove it into the temple of the alien. The alien loss it's balance and fell to the ground. Malcolm ripped the knife out and drove it into the alien's skull. After a second the alien stopped moving. Malcolm ripped the knife out again, swung the knife through the air to clean the blade of the purple liquid and sheathed it.

Rayla allowed the memory to fade. She stood in front of the memory and tried to understand what was happening. She heard the Spartans story but she never believed and was sure she would find proof that the men were lying. But memories don't lie. They weren't lying. She needed to inform the council.

She was on her way back when she spotted something. A memory that was more guarded than the others. A mixer of curiosity and suspicion washed over her. She needed to know what they were hiding. She tried to force here way in and she meet fierce resistance but she needed to know. She pushed and pushed and pushed until she finally forced her way in. She was immediately hit with a wave of dread. She tried to get out but the memory surrounded her, pulled her in. laughter filled her mind and she froze in fear.

**"Now the gate has been unlatched**" a voice said **"This is not your grave but you are welcome to it"**

Rayla's mouth went dry and her throat closed up. More Laughter filled her mind.

Rayla's finally spoke "What are you" She asked wide-eyed

**"I? I am the monument of all your sins"**

Rayla screamed and she was swallowed by blackness.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

John watched as Rayla fell to the floor. Malcolm caught her before she hit.

"What did you do to her" John demanded totally confused

Malcolm gave an equally confused stare

"I don't know" He said

"Arrest them" Sparatus said his voice dripping with anger

"Sparatus wait …" Tevos tried to stop him but was interrupted

"You saw what they did" Sparatus said

All around them the guards slowly walked towards them weapons at the ready.

"Put your hands behind your head and come peacefully or we will fire" One of the guards said

John tensed up ready for a fight when he felt Malcolm's hand on his shoulder.

"John" He said through the helmet's internal COMs " I've contacted Alpha 6. Play along"

John nodded and then slowly both Spartans raised their hands in surrender.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

**Author's notes: well now things are getting pretty heated aren't they? Let me know what you think! **


	6. Chapter Six: The Great-ish Escape

**Authors Note: Hey everyone! I know that I haven't been writing much but I haven't had the time. But good news, summer vacation stars in like two weeks and I'll use all my free time to write so, just be patient and I promise that I'll have more to give you. Now that done let's get back to the story!**

**/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\**

_Pain, pain is what Malcolm felt as the electricity coursed through his body. The lights flickered on and off trying to use nonexistent energy. They had been doing this for hours. Though he never screamed he only gritted his teeth. Finally the electricity shut off and Malcolm's head fell forward._

_His vision blurred but he faintly made out a shadowy figure against the brown dirt walls approaching him. _

_Cole kneeled down in front of Malcolm taking a long deep draw from his cigar. Cole puffed the smoke in His face. _

_"So" Cole said inspecting his cigar causally "People say that torture is an ineffective way of getting information" _

_Malcolm didn't move, he hurt too much._

_"But I don't care" Cole said as he lifted Malcolm's head up and put out his cigar in his eye. _

_Malcolm strained not to scream. Cole stood up and walked over to the switch._

_"I don't care" He said as he flipped the electricity on_

_Malcolm's body seized from the energy. _

_"Stop" Malcolm screamed_

_Cole flipped the switch and stared at Malcolm._

_"What did you say?" Cole asked_

_Malcolm gasped "I'll tell you" _

_A look of pleasure mixed with pride crossed Cole's face as he stepped over to him._

_"The defense codes for reaches ODP's Please" Cole said with his hand out_

_ "Alright here's what you do, go down to your local pharmacy, ask for something called Viagra, And it'll help you go screw yourself!" Malcolm said smiling _

_Pure hatred crossed Cole's face and he flipped the switch on again and walked out. All he heard was the Spartan laughing_

_/_

1800 Hours, April 8 2564(Military Calendar)/ Citadel, C-sec, Citadel maximum security holding cell

Malcolm sighed for the fifty millionth time. He understood it was a giant space station but Alpha 6 should have been here by now. And what made it even worse is that John kept staring at him. He knew what question was on his mind but it was a painful memory and he really didn't want to bring it up. Unfortunately John was very emotionally distant so he didn't understand the hints Malcolm was giving. What was even worse is that they took his armor away. He could do perfectly fine without it but he just felt so… exposed.

He also didn't feel right with the alien species study UNSC technology (which he had no doubt that's what they were doing). Luck for him he had Beta and Cortana, and they would make sure all data would be safe.

"Uhhh! Where is he" Malcolm moaned

"Hey, It was your idea to give up" John said raising an eye brow

"I like to call it 'strategically waiting'"

John rolled his eyes.

Malcolm looks around at his cell. It reminded him of the detention cells on reach, he spent a lot of time in them, the sliver metallic walls didn't hint at any weakness. Neither did the blue force field covering the door. The only furniture in the room was two silver slabs supported from the walls that acted as beds, and Malcolm and John were currently occupying them.

The two sat in silence until John finally stood up.

"All right Malcolm" John said

Malcolm sighed. He knew what was coming.

"You want to know how I'm still alive." Malcolm asked trying to confirm what he already knew.

John nodded.

Malcolm frowned.

"**Alright**" He said in Hungarian. "**But we talk like this**"

John nodded again.

Jorge had taught Mal and John years ago so the four of them, including Fred, could speak privately. Although he was almost certain the aliens manning the security cameras had some type of translator and could understand them; it still proved an extra layer of security.

"**So**" John said "**Start from the beginning**"

Malcolm sighed and sat up "**Okay**"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

John watched as Malcolm started his story.

"**We'll my story begins with my death. I did die on reach. I did detonate the explosive around the ODP generator. I was technically dead for over a day**" Malcolm said with a tired looking expression across his face.

"**So how are you here?**" John said raising an eye brow.

"**Ackerson**" Malcolm said his voice dripped with anger "**The bastard revived me"**

**"Why?"** John asked utterly confused

"**Because he wanted to study me" **Malcolm said barley containing his rage "**He wanted to create his own Spartan program, so he wanted to see how I tick"**

"**And?" **John said interested

Malcolm sighed "**After being clinically dead for 37 hours and 12 minutes I was revived"**

Malcolm paused and John let this sink in.

"**So**" John said "**What**-"

John was interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared.

John looked over and saw a man standing in ODST armor.

"Adam!" Malcolm said slightly relived and switching back to English. "What took you so long?"

"With all due respect sir; I wouldn't have had to come if you didn't decide to surrender"

Malcolm frowned "Well it's either sneak out with minimal casualties or fight through an entire space station with god knows how many guards. I mean I could probably do it but, it just wouldn't be very practical"

Adam rolled his eyes and activated his COMM

"Bravo 32; Please release our guests"

With that the security field shut off. Adam reached into an ordinance bag, grabbed two SMG's, and threw them to John and Malcolm.

"Come on he said. I had Bravo put the security feed on a feedback loop but it won't last for long.

With that the Spartans followed Alpha 6 out of the room stepping over the body of a dead Turin guard.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm crept along the empty C-sec hallway. It had not taken them long to get back into their suits thanks to the help of Beta and Cortana. Fortunately, the C-sec guards weren't as strong as they thought.

"Contact" Adam whispered over the COMM

Malcolm and John stopped and leveled their weapons. Lucky they original retrieved their weapons from the citadel lab. He was happy about that; He had his Ma5b since Reach.

Malcolm saw the contact, a Salarain C-sec guard on his break. Malcolm crept forward while John and Adam kept a look out. Fortunately, he learned that Salarain necks are weaker then elites.

Malcolm and John continued down the hall until they reached an elevator and immediately entered it. Adam lowered his weapon and pushed a button. After five minutes of falling, which was way too long for an elevator to take, they reached the hanger that housed the _Rising_ _Sun_.

"Oh, hell no!" Malcolm yelled. Fortunately it was over his internal speakers as to not let the enemy hear.

Malcolm had a right to be upset. In front of him he saw a large group of citadel scientist tearing apart his ship. He expected them to study the _Sun_ but seeing it made his blood boil.

"Come on!" Malcolm said cycling the bolt on his Ma5b "I need to go disembowel people!"

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Liara t'Soni was on the citadel when it these strange ships appeared and was naturally very interested in them. But she didn't expect to be called to study them up-close. Now hear she was. One thing was for sure: She'd never seen anything like this ship. Despite it obvious differences like its boxy shape and its dull grey texture and color, the actual computers and technology was vastly different than anything the alliance had at the moment. She also found it strange that it was completely abandoned. She was certain that a ship of this size would have a large crew. But to be fair they had only checked out the upper levels of the ship, the crew could have been hiding down below.

Liara stop thinking so hard and focused on the task at hand. She was trying to access the ships computer system but no amount of hacking attempts or Omni jell could seem to work.

She sighed in frustration and looked around the room. It was large most likely the hanger or some sort of storage area. The room was box shaped but had a large amount of stairs and catwalks running across the space each covered in chrome. Each walkway lead to a door or a different room. On these were her fellow scientist and a two Turin guards.

She was just about to get back to work when she heard a loud noise. She turned around and was overcome with absolute fear. Standing front of her was a man in green armor with his gun pointed toward the ceiling; behind him was another man in green armor and a regular sized man in silver armor. Liara thought he must've been eight feet tall. What was worse was that he was staring right at her. Liara didn't move and just stared at her own reflection in the gold face plate.

One of the guards on the Catwalk tried to shoot the man but without turning his gaze the man moved his hand and fired a shot. A second later she heard the Turin guard's body hit the floor. Nobody moved. The other guard tried to get a shot off but the man in green armor killed him too. The man in green armor stared right at her.

"Get off my Ship!"

Even thought he was staring right at her she could tell that he was addressing everyone. She could also tell that his voice was dripping with rage. There was a two second pause and then the scientists stampeded out of the ship. Liara stepped forward to leave but felt dizzy. She tried to keep on her feet but fell to the ground only to be caught by something hard. The last thing she saw was her own reflection.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Malcolm caught the Asari as she fell to the ground.

"Poor thing" Adam said "She fainted"

Luckily the hanger door wasn't too far off so after he carried her out and laid her on the citadel elevator, and threw the dead Turin guards out into the citadel hanger, he continued taking back his ship. Fortunately almost every alien invader had been in the main hanger so he didn't have to worry about any stow a ways.

Malcolm activated his COMM

"Honey, I'm home!"

Within a minute Jessica Furbish, Dutch, Bradley, and the rest of the ODST were standing right in front of him.

"Thank goodness you got here captain" Dutch said overly exited "we were just about to stage a coup. See, it involved luring the guards away with Jessica dressing in a sombrero while Devon rode a horse, then-"

"look" Malcolm said cutting Dutch off "I'd love to hear about it another time but we really need to get out of here"

Dutch nodded but obviously he was still on an adrenaline rush.

Malcolm spun on his heel and marched towards the bridge.

/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Miranda was back at her apartment, pacing, trying to calm her anger. She was failing. Just an hour ago she saw, the whole damn citadel saw the Spartan's ship flying away. Citadel defenses tried to shoot it down but the ship opened some sort of portal and disappeared. What was worse was that the trackers and data extractors that Cerberus had put on the hull and on the inside had been destroyed or disconnected. The only data they had been able to transfer was sent to her. She looked at the data pad in her hand.

CONSOLE COMMANDS...ACCESSED

ACCUIREING ACCESS TO DATABASE

ACCESS DENIED...REROUTING

REROUTED UPLINK COMPONENT...ACCESSED

REQUESTING HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION…IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED

LOGIN REQUIRED

USER_ONI-censor...ACCEPTED

PASSWORD_*******...ACCEPTED&g t;

ACCESS TO HIGHLY CLASSIFIED MATERIALS DENIED

WELCOME ONI-censor

Name: ONI-censor-128

Rank: LCDR

Number: Redacted

_Gender: Male_

_Home world: Redacted , Redacted_

_Specialty: Redacted Redacted Redacted _

_Comments: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted RedactedRedacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_-Dr. Redacted .E. Redacted _

_Class-Spartan MK: II (2)_

_Post: Redacted_

_Team: Redacted_

_Know associates: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Status: Active as of 2563 Redacted_

_Name: Beta_

_Class: smart A.I Redacted_

_Creation date: Redacted_

_Avatar: blue Mark.v_

_Affiliation: UNSC_

_Expertise: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted _

_Currently located: Stationed along with ONI-censor Spartan-128 on the UNSC Rising Sun_

_Comments: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted RedactedRedacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_- Dr. Redacted . E. Redacted _

_ Name: Rising Sun_

_Faction: UNSC_

_ Captain: (Acting) LCDR ONI-censor Spartan-128_

_FFG: 385_

_Location: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Primary Weapon: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Secondary Weapon: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Shield type: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Model: Denver-class Destroyer_

_Crew: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_Cargo: Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted_

_ Role(s): Redacted_

_Payload of Primary/Secondary: None_

_LOGOUT?_

_Yes/(No)_

_INITIATING FORCED LOGOUT_

_GOODBYE HAVE A NICE DAY_

_Mirada could barely see strait from rage. She used her biotics to crush the data pad and threw it against her apartment's window. _

_/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

_Malcolm paced back and forth along the conference room floor next to the conference table. Malcolm always liked the conference rooms on UNSC ships. The oak wood walls and the shiny metal on the furniture gave an aura of home. He was dimly aware of the conversation the Bridge team, security team, and John were having off to the side. _

_"So" Bradley asked breaking away from the conversation "I guess we're fugitives now"_

_"Yep" Malcolm responded_

_"So, I guess we can't go back"_

_"Nope"_

_"So where do we go?"_

_Malcolm stooped pacing and turned toward his team. Bradley was right they need to go somewhere, somewhere safe and discreet…_

_"I think I may have something, sir"_

_Beta appeared in life sized form right next to Malcolm._

_"Go ahead"_

_Beta nodded and a galaxy map appeared on the Conference room Holo-table. But somehow it looked different to Malcolm._

_"This is an updated galaxy map of this universe to serve our purposes" The galaxy map zoomed in and highlighted several different locations._

_"As Bradley said we need to go somewhere. I have highlighted several probably locations, the first one being Omega"_

_Dutch raised his hand "What's this 'Omega' "_

_Beta turned towards Dutch. "Omega is a city carved out of a large asteroid. It's inhabited with smugglers, pirates, mercenaries; basically the rebels of the galaxy"_

_John and Malcolm looked at each other. They had a bad experience with rebel cities carved in asteroids._

_"Omega" Beta continued "Is located in a region of space called the 'Terminus system', an area outside of council jurisdiction."_

_"So?" Devon asked _

_"So, the council can't pursue us, they're too afraid to start a war with the Terminus system. But, we would exactly be alone. We would have to blend in with the riffraff"_

_Malcolm contemplated this. Omega was a good choice but they would be alone and there was always the chance that council could hire mercenaries to try to kill them. No, they needed to lay low for a while and since Beta said this was a parallel universe with the same physical features and since the council couldn't use slip-space…_

_"So where are we going exactly?" Asked John_

_"Why John, isn't it obvious" Malcolm said smiling "Were going back to the beginning"_

_/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

_Error_

_Error_

_I Am th-_

_Error_

_I am the lightness to the d-_

_Error_

_Error_

_Error_

_I am his sword and shei-_

_Error_

_I am the monument to your greatn-_

_Error_

_John_

_**Authors Note: Well, things are getting pretty interesting. Tell me what you think!**_


End file.
